Blast From The Past
by Ray-Tiger-Cat
Summary: The first group of kids that are put in the abbey include Kai's dad. How the abbey came about and how the first team was trained.
1. A Bad Beginning

RTC: Well, this is my second fic. I'm finally posting it; 2 months after writing the first chapter! I find it hard to put up the first chapter because you don't have reviewers to help and encourage you.

Kai: As if it weren't bad enough she tortures me, she decided to torture my dad. Can't you just leave us alone?

RTC: What do you think?

Kai: No...

RTC: Then why do you ask those questions? Do the disclaimer, please!

Kai: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade, got that? Hey, wait, why am I doing the disclaimer when I'm not even in the fic?

RTC: Because it's your family. Te others don't have anything to do with this plot. On with the fic. So here's the prologue!

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A Bad Beginning

It should have been a happy day for Voltaire Hitawari, his first child- a boy- had just been born; but it was not. His wife had died giving birth to that worthless son. Perhaps he should be put up for adoption, Voltaire thought. He really was going to give away his only child, but when the moment came to sign the papers, Voltaire found he couldn't do it. Here was the only flesh and blood of his beloved wife, and the child- loud and as annoying as he might be- would have to stay.

Four years later

It was the child's- now named Alexander, for his mother, Alexandra- fourth birthday.

"Alexander, come down here!" barked Voltaire.

"Yes, Father," Alex replied, walking down the stairs in a dignified manner. All his life, his father had controlled him. He was forbidden to talk about his mother, play with other children, and call Voltaire 'Dad'

(Always, always 'Father') and in general, act his own age. How he wished he could be like all the other children, go to school instead of being stuck alone with those evil, strict tutors, playing outside, allowed to cry, and most of all, to have a mother who loved and cared about him.

"I have something for you, son," his father told him, holding out a small, plain, black box.

"A present?" asked Alex, his father never, ever gave him presents. He had his needs fulfilled, but no extras. He took the box and opened it. Inside was a small, blue beyblade.

"I want you to train and become stronger," Voltaire ordered.

"Yes, Father," said Alex.

Three years later

"But why do I have to go, Father?" Alex was asking.

"Son, do not talk back to your elders!" Voltaire stopped yelling long enough to hit Alex across the face so hard he was knocked off balance. "You will go because I say so!"

Alex was told that he was being sent to a school to train him. However, since Alex wasn't as stupid as his father thought, he had gone through his father's desk to find out where he was really going. He was being sent to an abbey, and not just any abbey, Balkov Abbey, where pain, suffering and torture were all a part of daily life. However he couldn't tell his father what he knew for fear of another beating. Alex wondered who in their right mind would open a "school" like that.

Just as he suspected, within a week of being in "school", he was not only in pain from the training, but from being beaten for everything he did wrong. They had so many instruments of torture, it wasn't funny. Also, Alex suspected that maybe they were drugging his food because he felt woozy and dizzy and had a headache most of the time.

A year later, the treatment he got when he arrived at the abbey would have been bliss compared to what they were doing to him now. They regularly locked him into his room and "forgot" to feed him. They chained him down and whipped, burned, hit and stabbed him. One scream, one whimper, one-any-form-of-displaying-pain and the "instructors" would double the punishment. They often stuck needles full of drugs in the children and the drugs were often more painful than the physical beatings. On top of all that, the children in the abbey were expected to train from dawn to dusk or sometimes even longer.

One day, they dragged in a new kid. Literally. He was kicking and screaming the whole way. Alex watched with interest. He wondered where this child would end up- would he even be alive a year from now? Any form of rebellion was not tolerated and this kid was certainly trying to rebel. Alex was most surprised when he returned to his "room" that night to find the child there, on an extra bed that had been placed there. Most people had roommates but Alex ha always been alone; on his father's orders, most likely. The boy looked foreign, so different from Alex, who had silver-grey hair and pale skin. This boy was blonde, with brown eyes and a tan. He was already covered in bruises and had a nasty cut below his lip.

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked.

"I'm you're new roommate. Name's Ryan," the kid replied, wincing as he tried to sit up.

"That must be painful. Try not to move too much. I was watching them bring you in here and I saw you fight. You're good but they're stronger. Be careful," Alex warned. Ryan burst into tears.

"I don't wanna be here," he sobbed.

"How'd you end up here, anyway?" asked Alex.

"My mummy went away when I was five and she didn't come back. My daddy started hurting me, so the police took me away from him. Then this man adopted me, and he wanted me to train here. I'm seven years old now and i didn't think life would be so hard. I used to watch the big kids walk to school without any problems and I always wanted to grow up fast. Now that I'm one of the big kids, I want things to be like they were before," he replied. "What's your story?" Ryan sounded so much older than seven right then.

"My father wanted me to come here to become strong. He thinks strength and power are everything," Alex told him.

"What about your mom?" Ryan asked.

"She died a long time ago," Alex said. Ryan started crying again. It looks like I'll have to watch out for Ryan, he hardly seems like abbey material and he could probably use a friend. I wish someone had looked after me when I first came here, Alex thought. I guess I just found my first friend.

"Ryan, don't worry. It'll be okay. Someday we'll get out of here. In the meantime, I've got your back," Alex tried to reassure him.

"Thanks," Ryan mumbled, already half asleep.

In the months to follow, Alex and Ryan became close friends and they moved through the ranks pretty quickly. This was both a good thing and a bad thing. The higher levels trainees got worse punishments and beatings, but at least they knew they had skills. Within two years, they each had several people envying them (the kids at the abbey that is). When they were both nine years old, they got some disturbing new from their new "teacher", Boris.

"You will both be pulled from the abbey and sent to another training facility. This facility-" Boris sounded disgusted with it- "is run by the BBA. That's Beyblade Battle Association, you morons," he added at their confused looks, "You will not reveal anything about this place. You will not tell them how you train. You will just show them that you're two up and coming beyblade star. You tell them about how we train you, and we will kill you, slowly and painfully. Understood?"

Ryan and Alex nodded. They thought this was too good to be true, but they weren't going to say that in front of Boris.

"They're just sending us away? To the BBA's training facility?" Alex asked nervously, "Something's up."

"I agree. So, the usual plan?" Ryan responded. The usual plan was to break out of their "room" and hack the computer system to find information. Over the past two years, they had broken out several times' sometimes for food and sometimes for information.

"Shh! They're going to hear us," Alex warned.

"Sorry, but I'm having a hard time hacking into this file," Ryan said.

"And hitting the computer will help how?" Alex asked.

"I'm in! Look at this! It's a letter from the head of the BBA," Ryan whispered.

To the staff of the Biovolt Abbey,

It has come to our attention that you do not allow your students outside and that you have never entered a student in a tournament. We would like to use this opportunity to invite some of your students to the BBA facility in Tokyo, Japan or allow some of our students to train with you. Foreign experiences teach children new things and we would like to meet some of your students.

Sincerely,

The BBA

"Well, that explains a few things," Alex said.

"What? I'm not sure I understand," Ryan said.

"Obviously, the kids from the BBA can't come here because they would se our training and it would look suspicious if they didn't agree to the request, so they're sending us and probably some other children," Alex explained.

"Oh, I get it, they're sending us so that this abbey looks like a normal training facility," Ryan said as they sneaked back to their "room".

"We'd better get some sleep. We're leaving tomorrow," Alex mumbled.

"Tomorrow, we get our freedom back," said Ryan.

"Even if it's just temporarily," Alex whispered so quietly that Ryan didn't hear. If his father had anything to say about this, they would be back at the abbey in a few weeks.

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RTC: I hope you enjoyed that. I know there wasn't much torture/angst in there, but it was just the beginning and there should be more in future chapters. I'm just going to warn you that this fic might not be updated as often as my other one because I'm not really sure what to do in the plot. I know where it'll end up, but I need the middle. (Remember, the idea for this fic is only two months old, whereas the other fic's has been in my head for two or three years.) I'm open to suggestions, so if you have any ideas, include that in your review! If you know any boy's names that start with Dy, put that in, too. Thanks for reading and bye!


	2. New Places, New Faces

RTC: Um, hi. Remember me? Please don't kill me for not updating in (checks published date) four weeks! It wasn't all my fault; I had writer's block and I do have another fic to work on.

Kai: Kill, her kill her, kill her.

RTC: Don't pay any attention to my muse here. He's just mad at me for posting this fic in the first place. This chapter may seem a bit pointless, but trust me, it will affect future chapters, k? Well, I won't waste your time rambling on and on, so do the disclaimer.

Kari: I think it's obvious that Ray-Tiger-Cat still does not own Beyblade.

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New Places, New Faces

"Flight 204 is now boarding at the south east terminal. Will all passengers make their way there and board, please?" said a woman over the intercom.

"Remember, you tell our secrets, you die," hissed Boris. Alex, Ryan and some follow trainees were leaving for Tokyo that day. Once they were safely settled in the plane, Alex and Ryan began plotting ways to escape the abbey for good.

Once they got off the plane, a man named Stanley Dickenson greeted them. He was young with thick brown hair and was wearing training clothes-sweatshirt and jeans.

"Welcome to Tokyo, boys. We'll be heading straight for the training facility." The ride there was long and uneventful. When they first saw the facility, the boys were in awe.

"It's so big!" exclaimed Ryan.

"Yes, come on. We'll get you settled in and begin training tomorrow morning, at ten o'clock sharp," Stanley said and Alex gasped. "Is that too early for you kids?" Stanley asked, alarmed.

"No, it's perfect. Don't mind me," Alex said, quickly covering up his shock. He couldn't believe that he could sleep so late, at the abbey, they were training by six. He, Ryan, and the two other boys, who were named Scott and Athrun all unpacked their meagre possessions.

"Can you believe this?" asked Ryan.

"No, it's all so unbelievable. We're out of the abbey, aren't being forced to train and I'm free from my father!" Alex said.

"Shh! Remember what Boris said? He said not to say anything about the abbey," said Athrun. "I think we should just enjoy these next few weeks while they last."

"Yeah, so let's start by getting a decent night's sleep!" Ryan agreed. Soon all four kids were sound asleep.

When they woke up the next morning, it was still rather early. They quickly got dressed and walked down to the dining area. There were only a few people awake, including Stanley.

"Good morning. My, aren't you boys up early. I would have thought you would have wanted to sleep in, especially with the time difference. When do you wake up and start training at Balkov Abbey?" he asked.

"We, um, we were too excited to sleep," Ryan lied. "We don't normally start training till about 8."

"Yes, well, you eat breakfast and then meet me out on the track. You'll meet your other team mates then. They've also come from far away for training here."

"Yes, sir."

"You can call me Stanley. No need for the formality," replied Stanley. "We're not in the army."

When the boys finished eating, they went out. They found Stanley with three other kids. Stanley looked perky, but two of the kids were half asleep. The last kid was just standing there, emotionless.

"Well, this is Josh, Andrew and Dylan," Stanley said and then introduced the abbey kids to the others. Alex looked around and saw how different they all looked. He was pale with silver-grey hair and grey eyes, Ryan had a tan, was blonde with brown eyes, Scott was a brunette with brown eyes, Athrun was black haired with green eyes, Josh was also dark haired but had bright blue eyes, Andrew was a dirty blonde with hazel eyes and Dylan was black haired with golden eyes. Both Dylan and Scott were short for their age and all the abbey kids were very thin. Everyone other than Dylan was wearing sweat shirts and comfortable pants. Dylan was wearing black jeans and a bulky black coat. Stanley noticed this.

"Dylan, perhaps you want to go change in to something more comfortable," Stanley suggested. "It's awfully warm. You don't need that coat."

"Sorry, sir, but I haven't had the chance to unpack yet. Besides, I live in a tropical climate, so it feels cold to me. And please call me Dy," Dy said.

"Well, alright then."

"That kid is so weird! He barely said two words when he arrived," whispered Josh. "He didn't say a thing about himself." Alex hoped they wouldn't ask too many questions. He didn't want to try and create too many lies.

Unfortunately for him, they did ask a lot of question; where are you from? Does your school do as much training as they do here? What's life like at Balkov Abbey? On and on they went; after a while Alex was starting to see why Dy kept to himself. In fact, Alex was experiencing a new emotion; pity. He actually felt sorry for Dy because he was such a loner. Alex knew firsthand that you usually keep to yourself if you have something to hide.

That night, they were each moved into smaller, individual bedroom. Alex felt so alone; he was used to having Ryan in the room, snoring away.

However, Alex heard a different sound that night' sobbing. He didn't know who it was, but it was a safe bet that it wasn't one of the abbey kids. He decided to leave whoever be because he didn't think they'd appreciate him, a total stranger, coming into their room in the middle of the night. Besides, maybe he was wrong, maybe it was nothing.

Things fell into a routine pretty quickly. They ended up staying in Tokyo longer than they had originally planned and no one complained. Before they knew it, it was time to go home.

"Remember to write," said Josh.

"We will, every week," lied Athrun. They all knew that once they were back at the abbey, communication with the outside world would be prevented. The abbey kids found themselves dreading their return more than ever, after spending 6 weeks out of Boris' clutches. Alex was shocked that his father would allow him to leave the abbey for so long, but maybe things were changing.

That night, they all went to the airport and the Russia bound plane was the first one departing. Josh and Andrew waved hood bye cheerfully, but Dy was just standing in the terminal alone, ignoring everybody.

"Back to Hellhole," remarked Athrun, glad to stop pretending that he liked the abbey.

"Yippee," Alex mumbled sarcastically.

"Well, things couldn't get any worse, could they?" asked Ryan, knowing the answer would be yes.

"You never know." That's the problem; Alex thought angrily, we just never know what will happen to us.

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RTC: Did anyone else feel weird thinking of Mr. Dickenson as Stanley? I kept wanting to write Mr. D instead of Stanley! Anyway, there is a point to this chapter, you'll see later on. Next chapter will be back in the abbey with more torture! Yay! I love torture! Thanks so much to my reviewers, please don't give up on me because of this incredibly long wait. It should go faster after this. Oh and please review, you guys really make my day when you write nice reviews. (And that'll make my updating speed faster. Hint, hint. Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up in 2 weeks. If I don't, feel free to PM me and tell me to get a move on.) See ya, RTC.


	3. Return To Hell Hole

RTC: Sorry for the wait, but I need reviews to keep going you know! I only got one and I'm sorry if this offends the person who wrote it, but it didn't make any sense! What about Dylan? Sorry, I'm in a terrible mood, so I'd better go now before I make anyone angry.

Kai: Ray-Tiger-Cat still does not own Beyblade.

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Return To Hell Hole

Back at the abbey, Boris was going crazy. He hadn't had his top trainees around to beat up for six weeks. The instant they were back within its walls, Boris had them dragged off to a secluded room and had them beaten. He kept them apart from the other kids because he knew that they could spread stories about how good the outside world was. All four boys were now sharing a 'room'.

"Oh, man, I'd nearly forgotten how bad this place was," moaned Athrun.

"No kidding. Now that we've been outside, this place feels more like a prison," Alex agreed.

"Well, where are we going to hide these?" whispered Ryan, indicating a pile of photos and the addresses of their new friends. They had snuck the forbidden items into the abbey to remind them that there was a world out there, waiting for them.

"You know what? We shouldn't be imprisoned here," said Alex suddenly.

"You mean you want to break out?" Scott exclaimed.

"Yeah, why not? We already break out of our room a lot. It can't be much harder," Alex said.

"But it's so dangerous!" Ryan protested.

"Would you rather be stuck here for the rest of your life?" Alex demanded.

"Okay, supposing we actually decide to do this, where do we go afterwards?" Athrun asked. "I don't want to return to the orphanage."

"And I can't go back to Dad," Ryan added.

"Me neither," admitted Alex.

"We could always go to my grandmother's," Scott suggested.

"Really? Where does she live?" Ryan asked.

"In Japan. If we break out, we can call her and ask for plane tickets."

"Okay, so are we going to do this?" asked Alex.

"I'm in," said Athrun.

"Me too," Scott added. They all looked at Ryan.

"Sure, why not?" They began to formulate a plan for escape. They kept it a secret, even from the other children. As they said, they could report the abbey to the police and everyone could escape.

"What are you brats doing?" yelled Boris a few weeks later. Ryan, Alex, Scott and Athrun had become distracted by their plans and their blading was suffering. Boris secured the boys on tables and injected them with drugs and whipped hem. Alex tried not to scream. He was the most stressed of the four of them as he was basically the leader and the one who was working the hardest. His attempts at being silent weren't good enough. Boris heard the whimpers and dragged Alex into another room.

"Why are you such a pathetic weakling? You must be punished! Guards!" Boris yelled. Alex felt himself filling with dread. He knew what was coming. The guards would haul him off and put him in a tiny cell and beat him. He had gotten the torture once before and he didn't want to face it again. However, he had no choice.

"Psst, Alex," came a whisper that night. Alex opened his tired eyes and found himself looking at Ryan, Athrun and Scott. "We were worried so we came."

"Sorry it took so long," whispered Ryan.

"You guys can't take me from here. You'll get in trouble," Alex said.

"Okay. But we'll stay the night. At the very least, we can unchain you for a few hours," Scott said. They picked the lock and slipped inside. Alex couldn't find the words to express how glad he was o have his friends there.

"We've done some more research for our little project," Ryan said. The 'little project' was, of course, the break-out.

"Good," Alex managed to say. Every word was draining him. He was so tired and the blood lose was making him so weak.

"Get some rest," ordered Ryan and Alex finally fell asleep. He was awoken by his friends the next morning. They all looked tired too.

"I'm sorry for keeping you guys up," said Alex as they reattached him to the wall, so that the guards never found out that they were sneaking around at night. A few days later, Alex was back in his room. The latest beatings made them speed up their plans for escape. Another two weeks later, it was finally upon them. The night of the break-out.

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RTC: I love cliffies! Sorry it was so short, but I didn't really feel up to writing much. Maybe if I got some review, I'd feel better. (Hint, hint.) Gotta go, bye!


	4. Plan Up In Smoke

RTC: Hi, I'm back! Sorry about the lack of enthusiasm, but I'm a bit worn out and drained from writing this and a chapter for my other fic in a few hours. Yikes! That's what Happens when you leave things until the last minute, I guess.

Kai: Great, she's back. I keep hoping she'll forget about this fic.

Kari: Awe, that's not very nice. You know she's stressed out a bit.

Kai: Who's side are you on anyway?

Kari: Nobody's. I just think you and RTC could be nicer, but since she's... Okay, I can't describe her mood, but it's not the greatest. So I'm not going to offend her. (Besides, she seems to have it in for me at the moment.)

RTC: Thank you. Disclaimer please.

Kai: Last time I checked, Ray-Tiger-Cat did not own Beyblade.

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Plan Up In Smoke

"I can't believe we're actually doing this, Alex," Ryan whined.

"Are you afraid? Because I think we all are," Alex replied. The four boys were in their room, gathering up all their items. They each had a small backpack and they packed the stuff in there. They successfully managed to get out of the room and to the roof of the abbey without alerting anyone.

"Looks like we're clear," Scott mumbled.

"Okay, it's now or never. Let's go!" Alex said, trying to conceal his fear. He took out a long rope made from sheets and other odd items and attached it to the roof. "So, who's first?" When no one volunteered, Alex started climbing down the rope himself, praying that it was long and strong enough to get him to the ground. Thankfully, the rope held and Alex was crouched at the base of the building. "Come on, it's not that bad." He understood the fear of climbing down a three story building, it was natural. Slowly and carefully, his friends came down and settled next to Alex.

"Now comes the dangerous part," Athrun whispered, "Running across the yard while insane guards will try to shoot you and make it over the fence.

"Yeah, on your mark, get set, go!" Ryan ordered before they could lose their nerve. As it happened, he was the slowest in the group. As Athrun had predicted, the guards spotted them and opened fire.

"NO!" screamed Alex. He had been shot in the shoulder. Ryan immediately ran over and grabbed him. Both Athrun and Scott had almost reached the fence. They turned back, but Alex told them to keep going. Ryan practically dragged Alex to the fence.

"Come on, you have to climb!" Ryan ordered.

"I'm trying. I really am," Alex mumbled. The other two were almost over the fence, but suddenly, Athrun got shot. He fell off the fence and landed in a bloody heap on the ground. He was dead.

"NO!" the other three boys shouted. It was very unnerving to see a friend die.

"Let's go, Alex," Ryan said. Suddenly he got shot too.

"Ryan! Get up!" Alex screamed.

"Leave, we are not all going to be killed like this. Go and try to save yourself."

"No way!"

"Well, Athrun and I will die no matter what, but you have a chance to live. Besides, this way, you can report Boris and save the other children. Go! It's my dying wish. Please?"

"Okay," Alex said with tears running down his cheeks fast. He clambered over the fence, sheer determination driving him to do as his first and best friend in the world had asked. He and Scott made it out alive and got to the airport; Scott having bandaged Alex's shoulder and carrying him all the way there. When they tried to call Scott's grandmother, they got an unpleasant surprise.

"Didn't you know? That lady was murdered a few years ago and we couldn't find the killer," said her maid, who had stayed in the house working for another family. Both boys were left to wonder what they could possibly do now.

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RTC: Okay, so the part where Ryan died was over dramatic. I know that. And I know, it's way too short, but I'm feeling really tired and have a case of writer's block, so I'll leave it there. Besides, I like cliffies. Bye for now!


	5. Nowhere To Turn

RTC: Hi guys! I know, I'm terrible at updating and when I do get around to updating this thing, the chapters are way too short. I'm really sorry. And I realized that Kari appeared in my author's notes, without any explanation of who she is. So, here goes: Kari is my OC from my other fic. She is Kai's twin sister and she has a bitbeast named Drazelia. (Not very original, I know.) I think that's all you need to know for now.

Kai: (groans.) She never quits.

RTC: Quitting is not an option. Even though I don't get many reviews for this fic. Now do the disclaimer.

Kari: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade. She just owns us, the OCs.

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Nowhere To Turn

"So, what now?" Scott asked.

"I don't know. I can't think clearly. My head hurts," Alex moaned.

"Blood lose, probably. Just hang in there. Um, what are we going to do, what are we going to do, what are we going to do?" Scott asked again, wringing his hands. "Damn all of this."

"Scott, keep it together. Do you have the adress for the BBA headquarters in Tokyo?"

"Yeah, do you think we should contact them?"

"Yes, seeing as how we don't have any other choice right now. The phone number is on the sheet with the adress. Call them up," Alex said, making the hard choices in life as he'd always had to do. Scott fished the sheet out of his pocket.

"Okay, here goes nothing," he said as he dialed the number. " Hello? Can I please talk to Stanley Dickenson?"

"Sure, I'll get him on the line right away. Please hold," The receptionist said and put on that really annoying waiting music.

"Hello?" Stanley said.

"Hi, Stanley, it's me, Scott. I was one of the foreign exchange students that trained with you."

"I know that. I wouldn't forget a pupil that quickly you know," Stanley chuckled. "So, how are you?"

"Not very good actually. That's why I'm calling. It's time we told the truth. Balkov Abbey is just a front for some very dangerous people who abuse all the students. We have all been hurt near fatally at some point or another. Today, the four of us, Athrun, Ryan, Alex and I tried escaping. I'm okay, but Alex has a bullet in his shoulder and... Ryan and Athrun... died trying to get out," Scott said in between sobs.

Stanley was silent. "I can't believe it. You all seemed so happy. Well, I guess that's because you guys were free. Where are you? Is Alex there too?" he asked, finally registering what Scott had said.

"I'm at the airport. And yes, Alex is with me. We were planning to contact my grandmother and have her fly us out, but we just found out that she was murdered."

"I'm so sorry. I'll arrange a BBA plane to come and get you and bring you here. Better yet, I'll come personally and get you two. Do you think Alex can wait a few hours?"

"I'm fine!" Alex interjected, having been listening to the conversation the whole time.

"Yes, sure," Stanley said, unbelievingly. "I'll bring a doctor with me anyway. We'll be there in a few hours. Sit tight and don't worry too much."

"Okay, thank you, sir, bye," Scott said.

"See you in a few, bye."

True to his word, Stanley had a private plane in Moscow within 8 hours, by which point Scott was worried out of his mind and depressed and Alex had fallen asleep.

"Alex, wake up. They're here," Scott said, shaking him to rouse him.

"Hello, boys," Stanley said, looking very worried and alarmed. "I'm very sorry to hear about your friends. They were nice kids and didn't deserve that. Now come on, let's get to the plane."

When they got there, a doctor was waiting and immediately took a look at Alex's shoulder and proclaimed, "This is bad. We'll need to get you to a hospital to get the bullet out of your shoulder. I'm surprised that you're still standing as it looks like you lost a lot of blood."

The flight itself was rather uneventful. Everyone was quiet, probably because they were thinking about Ryan and Athrun. Alex was surprised that Stanley wasn't prying, but then, he was a lot more understanding than most of the adults they had met so far. The doctor had given Alex painkillers so he fell asleep half way to Tokyo. He woke up in a large room that was entirely white. He saw Stanley standing nearby and asked, "Where am I?"

"You're finally awake. Thank goodness!" he replied.

"Am I in a hospital?" Alex asked, with much resentment in his voice. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days. And we needed to operate and get that bullet out of you."

"Well, why is there a needle stuck in my arm?" Alex asked, indicating the I.V.

"Those are painkillers and nutrients. You were severely under weight and malnourished."

"Whatever. Can I leave now?"

Stanley sighed and smiled. "Stubborn aren't you? I'll see what I can do to get you out of here as soon as possible."

"Thank you sir. I didn't mean to sound ungrateful."

"No problem. I understand. I'd wouldn't be too happy if I'd seen and been through what you have. And don't call me 'sir'. Stanley is fine."

"Okay."

"I'll just go and let you get some rest. Scott will be around to see you later this afternoon."

As soon as Stanley left and Alex was sure that he was alone, he started to cry. Reality sank in. His best friend in the world was gone and nothing could bring him back. This was the first time Alex had cried in a very long time. He eventually cried himself to sleep.

Elsewhere

"Well, should we tell him?" the BBA director asked Stanley.

"No, I don't think we should. He's been through enough. We'll tell him when the time comes," Stanley replied.

"Alright."

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RTC: Sorry, once again the chapter is not very long. Maybe when I fish my other fic, I can give this one a bit more attention.

Kai: Excuses, excuses.

RTC: Oh, shut up. So, please review, I could really use them, bye!


	6. Revelation

RTC: Hello all. Back and writing as fast as possible. Meh, don't feel like talking much, so I'll spare you a long author's note about absolutely nothing. So disclaimer please.

Kai: Why can't you get some OCs from this fic to do this?

RTC: Because it's more fun torturing you.

Kari: So how come I have to be here? I'm an OC too.

RTC: I don't know, I just felt like it.

Kai: (Sighs.) Well, you all know what I'm going to say: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade, but she does own the OCs and the plot.

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Revelation

Alex recovered from the bullet wound and was released from the hospital after about a week. He and Scott were still pretty depressed about their friends, but they knew that sulking wouldn't help them, so they put their energy into finding a way to expose and destroy the abbey. Stanley and the police had told them that there wasn't much that could be done unless they had some more proof. So, Scott ended up doing a lot of training and Alex ended up doing a lot of research to see if he could find anything incriminating.

"Hello, boys," said Stanley as he entered the library where Alex was researching and Scott was lounging in because he was exhausted. "Have you found anything yet?"

"Nope, but then, you don't really think they'd leave incriminating information lying around would they?" Alex replied. "We need a way to take them down."

"Well, then, I have some good news for you. I'm setting up a major tournament for all beyblading organizations and inviting them here. They can't resist, because they'll probably know you're here and come after you. I've started gathering some people for your team," Stanley said, grinning.

"Awesome!" Scott proclaimed. "But who are you going to put on a team with us?"

"Well, I'm trying to get a hold of your friends, Josh, Andrew and Dylan. Josh and Andrew went home, and I can't seem to find Dylan. He said he was going traveling, so it might be hard to find him."

"Oh, good. I kinda missed them," Scott said, relieved that he wouldn't be dealing with a group of strangers. He was surprising shy at times.

Alex stood up abruptly. "I want to take part in the tournament," he stated.

"But what about your shoulder? The doctor said no training for several weeks," Stanley protested.

"Fine, I'll take it easy for another week, but I will train and I will take part. This is my fight too, you know. They took my best friend away from me, and I'll make sure they pay!" Alex all but yelled, and then he stalked out of the room. Stanley looked upset and guilty.

"He'll be okay. He hasn't really grieved and all those bottled emotions got the better of him. He and Ryan had a really close bond, closer than brothers," Scott explained.

Another two weeks later, Alex, Scott and Stanley were all at the airport waiting for Dylan's flight to come in. Surprisingly, Stanley had found him and even more

surprisingly, he was the first to arrive. The others weren't getting to Tokyo for a few days.

"There he is! Dylan!" Stanley shouted, hurrying over towards him. Dylan, like Alex and Scott, had barely any luggage. He had just brought a small backpack.

"Hi," Dylan greeted them. He was wearing another bulky coat with a hood, so you couldn't really see his face. Only his eyes were visible and they looked tired.

"Hey. What took you so long? Did you have to convince your parents?" Scott asked.

"No, that's not it, I was busy," he said, looking at the floor.

"Oh, okay then. We'd better start training," Alex said, softly.

"Alex! Can we stop now!" Andrew asked. He and Josh had arrived to find Alex training the team like mad.

"Yeah, man, this is torture," Josh agreed. Scott sensed that this was not the best thing to say. Sure enough, Alex was looking at the ground and tears were threatening to spill over. The word torture reminded him too much of the abbey.

"Awe, Alex, calm down, he didn't mean that," Scott said, trying to comfort his friend.

"Is this a bad time to interrupt?" Stanley asked, coming out to the field.

"It's okay," Alex mumbled.

"Well, I found some information on Balkov Abbey, and it isn't pretty. It turns out that a man named Voltaire Hiwatari in funding the whole thing," Stanley said, looking right at Alex.

"Isn't that..." Josh began.

"My father? Yes," Alex said and his expression hardened.

-----

RTC: Sorry, this chapter was a bit pointless, I swear, the next one will be better.

Kai: It better be, you can't get too much worse.

RTC: Ignore him. (Hits Kai with insanely thick text book, knocking him out cold.) Why don't I think my teacher will approve of that? Oh well, it's not like he'll ever find out. So, if the updates get slower, blame my teachers! Okay, better get started on my homework, bye!


	7. More Surprises

RTC: Hey guys, I realized that the last chapter was really, really, really short, and I'm sorry. Unfortunately, this chapter is just as bad, because I don't have as much time to write these days. I think we're about half way through this fic, so I won't have as many short chapters when the action picks up. I'll spare you the rambling today, so let's go straight to the disclaimer.

Kai: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade, because if she did, we'd have to buys a team of doctors and a hospital for our personal use.

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More Surprises

Alex eventually recovered from his injury completely. The tournament was to begin the following day and the team was nervous or excited. Alex and Scott were the nervous ones of course, the others had no idea how bad their situation was right now, and they probably never would understand Voltaire's wrath.

"So, are you all ready for tomorrow?" Stanley asked.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Alex replied, trying to hide his fear. He was the team captain and that meant he couldn't show his fear and frighten his team mates.

"Okay, that's what I like to hear. Now the tournament is set up elimination matches. First we have to make it through the pliminaries and then the organisers divide all the remaining teams into four groups-A, B, C and D. The winners of block A and B will face off as will the winners from C and D. The winners of those matches will go on to fight for the gold. Any questions?"

"Yeah, how many bladers per team and how do we pick who fights whom?" Dy asked.

"The number on a team can bee up to 5, like you guys and Alex here will decide who to send out to fight."

"I see, so the choice is mine?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I know it's a lot of responsibility, but I think you can handle it," Stanley replied.

As the tournament got underway, strange things started to happen to the people on Alex's team. Scott was shoved down the stairs by someone he didn't see, and ended up with a sprained ankle, Josh was nearly hit by a car and the worst thing came when no one expected it.

It was late at night, but Alex was still awake. He was quite suspicious of everyone and everything and had a hard time sleeping lately. He pretty much had come to the conclusion that his dad was behind the attacks on his team mates, but obviously, he had no proof. Everyone higher up thought they were just accidents. That night there was a very loud scream that came from the room next door. Alex, instantly alert, ran out into the hall. He figured that it was Dy who had screamed, it had sounded like him anyway and besides, he was pretty sure that it came from his room. Alex watched as two cloaked figures ran out of Dy's room and down a flight of stairs.

"Dy?" Alex called softly, hoping that Dy was okay and that there weren't anymore thugs hiding out in the room. Alex gasped. Dy was lying on his side, and there was blood pouring out a wound in his stomach. "Hey, wake up!" Alex yelled, but to no avail, Dylan was out cold. Alex decided the best course of action was to bandage up the wound and then call for help, so he quickly found some things to do that. When he went closer and started the job, he gasped. "You're….."

RTC: Well, once again, I'm sorry for the length, I'm really trying to get the chapters longer and that's really not working too well. I didn't want to reveal what's up with Dy so soon, but I ran out of ideas and decided I might as well. Just please review, becasue I get the feeling not too many people are reading this, and I have half a mind to put it on hold or delete it altogether.


	8. Unexpected Revelations

RTC: Eep! Another really short chapter! I'm sorry, but I'm pooling my energy to finish the other fic so that I can work without disruptions on this one! Please don't freak out! Disclaimer please!

Kari: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade!

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Unexpected Revelations

"Hey, Dy, wake up!" Alex shouted as he saw his friend's eyes finally starting to move. Dy groaned, woke up and sat up. "You have some explaining to do," Alex stated.

Oh, shit, thought Dy. I guess I'm going to have to explain now. Damn it all. "Alright, you already know, I guess, but I'm a girl."

"No, duh! I meant why are you pretending to be a guy?"

"Well, you see, it's hard being a girl and a sport dominated by guys! You try putting up with the stigmatism! And so, I created this false identity, to keep people away from me."

"Okay, I can understand that much. Does anyone else know?" Alex wondered, his anger being replaced with an older brotherly feeling.

"Nope, you're the only one."

"So..." Alex started feeling quite awkward in this conversation. "You going to tell me anything about who you are and stuff? Or your real name?" Alex had no idea what to say to a girl, seeing as he had no experiences dealing with them. (AN: No, this is not romance, they might be paired with other people later, but there is no AlexXDy moments.)

Dy smiled at this. "Uh, I wish I could, but I, um, kinda ran away from home without telling anyone. If this got out, then I'd be forced to go home, you see. And you may call me Dy, as that is my real nickname," she replied. "So, can you please keep this between us?" Her eyes were filling with tears, and Alex knew some things were better kept quiet.

"Of course I will, we're friends after all."

"Yeah, friends."

For once, Alex felt at peace with himself. It took him a while to realize that it was because he had found a real, true friend, since Ryan. "Hey, Ryan, if you can hear this, I hope you know that I miss you and that I'm fighting for you. I hope you're proud of me," Alex whispered once he was alone in his room.

Ironically, the statement about fighting for his friend would get altered to fighting his friend. Boris, the twisted monster that he was had saved both boys' lives. He was controlling them and was going to enter them in the tournament. However, he decided to erase their memories, so that they could not betray him, the way Alex and Scott had.

"Are you ready, my pupils?" he asked.

"Yes, Master," came the reply, monotonously, from the two children once known as Ryan and Athrun.

-----

RTC: It's only two pages long! (Sobs) I'm sorry, but tell me what you think! Please review, and maybe the next chapter will be longer! Bye!


	9. Nothing Is Forever

RTC: Hi everyone, hope you enjoy this chapter as I put more effort into it than the past few. I know they weren't up to scratch, I only got one review last time! (Sobs.) Oh, well, read and review! Disclaimer please!

Kai: If Ray-Tiger-Cat owned Beyblade, the world would have ended by now. Since we are all still alive, I guess she doesn't own it!

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Nothing Is Forever

"You were never my friend; you left me there to die!" Ryan shouted.

"But I couldn't do anything, I couldn't!" Alex protested.

"You left me to die!" Ryan repeated, before coming to attack Alex, who for some reason, was back in the abbey.

"It's all my fault!" Alex cried, as he was hit.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Alex woke up screaming.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Dy asked. "Are you okay?" She moved closer and gave him a hug.

"Yeah, yeah," Alex said, trying to catch his breath, "It was just a dream."

"Want to tell me about it? You look as pale as a ghost."

"It's nothing."

"Then why were you screaming 'It's my fault, all my fault' for the past five minutes? Were you dreaming about your friends again?" Dy asked, hitting the nail on the head.

"Yes," Alex admitted.

"We've been over this, Alex," Dy said patiently, "It was not your fault. Ryan and Athrun would not want you to die for them."

"I know." It had been a week since Alex had learned Dy's secret, and, true to his word, he had not told a soul. Dy was a little better, but couldn't do any training. Fortunately, Stanley had bought the excuse that Dy had pulled a muscle and left it at that.

"So, captain, what are we doing for training today?" Dy asked, hoping to distract her friend.

"The usual, laps, practice matches, strength training... You know the drill. Why do you ask, I thought you were taking another week off?" Alex's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You are forbidden to train for another week, got that? I'm captain, and what I say goes. Now go back to bed, before I'm forced to drag you there myself." Dy groaned, it was impossible to get one past Alex, he was too suspicious, and clever.

"But the tournament starts in two days!" she protested.

"Read my lips: NO WAY! You aren't even supposed to be out of bed!" Dy gave into defeat, and Alex made sure she went back to bed. He didn't know what to think, that dream had thrown him for a loop. There was something different and his subconscious was going crazy trying to understand it all. He had no idea what would happen when the tournament would commence.

"Are you ready?!" screamed the announcer, "The tournament has officially begun today! You better not blink, 'cause there's going to be a lot of action coming you way! And here come the teams!"

Alex and his team mates, except for Dy, of course, came out, along with several other teams, all hoping to be the champions. Alex's instincts told him that something big was about to happen. But he couldn't find any danger, nor any signs of his father. The only thing that was slightly off was the fact that one of the teams had not shown up for the opening ceremonies.

"What kind of team would work so hard to get here, and then not show up from the start?" Josh was muttering.

Scott, however, was wiser to all of this. "Do you think he set it up?" he whispered to Alex.

"You think so? Because that's what I thought too, but is that true, or are we just being paranoid?"

"Let's go with the first option, never hurts to be cautious."

"Hn."

The first few rounds of the tournament went over well, with no further suspicious events. Alex's team quickly advanced, and were pretty soon facing a team that no one knew much about. Scott was first into battle.

The battle quickly heated up, and it was the most competition Alex's team had faced since entering the tournament. Every one of Scott's moves seemed to have been predicted and therefore blocked by his opponent.

"Why?" Scott muttered under his breath, as yet another attack failed.

"Haven't figured it out yet?" said the opponent, a slight smirk appearing on his face. He was wearing a cloak, which kept him hidden, and his eyes were in shadow, so it was impossible to see his entire face. "Go!" Scott commanded of his blade, and it blew the obstacles out of its way as it aimed for the other blade, causing smoke to be blown up. When the dust cleared, the figure standing across the dish was revealed.

"Athrun?" was all a chocked up Alex could mutter.

-----

RTC: Dun dun dun….. Cliffie! I love those things! Anyway, I shall quit rambling-have no time for it-and say bye now! See you when I update next!


	10. Mind Over Matter?

RTC: Hi there everybody! I'm back with another chapter and it's somewhat better than usual, I think. I hope the battles ended up okay, because they are not my forte!

Kai: I shall just do the disclaimer now, just to get her to shut up. Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade.

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Mind Over Matter?

"Athrun? What happened to you?" Scoot screamed, seeing that his friend was no longer that same kid he knew. This new Athrun was clad entirely in black, and looked more like a recruit in the army than an eleven year old child.

"Hmm, you looking for that kid you left to die in the abbey? The one that had been a friend? Well, guess what? He did die that day; he is not that same person anymore! He had no friends! If he did, they wouldn't have left him! Now go!" Athrun cried and commanded his blade to attack! Scott however seemed numb. His blade was just left out in the open and he was a sitting duck and Athrun knew that. He sent forward his blade and the resulting shock wave temporarily blinded the spectators and knocked Scott to the ground.

"It can't be, it just can't. Athrun is dead," Scott mumbled, lying there, unmoving.

"Scott, get up!" Alex ordered. "You can't let him win! You know he's been brain washed, now prove to him that you are a friend by defeating him and snapping him out of it!" Athrun took advantage of the situation and blasted Scott's blade once more. "Come on get up!" Alex was trying very hard to encourage his team mate.

"I'm going to win because I have to snap him out of it!" Scott replied, coming back to earth and realizing what he had to do. "Go, fierce attack!"

"You'll never win!" Athrun shouted. "It's too late, final attack!" And with that, Athrun's blade knocked the other out of the dish, where it promptly smashed into bits.

"But that, that's not possible!" Scott said, panicking. He looked devastated.

"Hey, it's okay," Alex said as he put his hand on Scott's shoulder in an effort to calm him down. "We'll win the next round, don't you worry."

"Will the next two players come to the dish please?" the announcer called.

"Guess that's me," Alex said and started walking to the dish.

"Nope, actually, that'd be me," Dy said as she ran up behind him and took her place at the dish.

"Hey wait, what are you doing out of bed?" Alex shouted. "Get back here!" Dy turned for a second, stuck her tongue out in a childish manner, and then proceeded to launch her blade as the announcer counted down.

"Go, Deeta blade!" Dy cried, and successfully hit her opponent's blade. It was pretty obvious that the other blader had not expected her to actually attack, because he looked stunned. He had also not prepared his blade for the assault and it took a beating with Dy's first round of attacks.

"You think you're so tough, don't you? Well I'll show you, coward!"

"Excuse me? I'm not the one hiding his identity, wearing a ridiculous cloak and standing up for an even bigger bully named Boris!"

"So, that's the way you want to play it, huh? I'm not hiding anything, my name is Matt. I am the world's most powerful blader and I don't stand up for a bully, I do this for myself!"

"That's what you think! You've been brainwashed and don't even realize it!" While this verbal battle was being fought, another one was taking place in the bey-dish. Dy's Deeta blade was resisting, but it was obvious that the fight was taking the energy out of her.

"Looks like I managed to distract you! You can't handle it with your injury!" Matt mocked.

"Shows what you know! Firstly, you just proved you had something to do with my injury, because no one knew about it. And secondly, didn't that bastard Boris teach you to never underestimate your opponents?!" With that she sent an attack that sent Matt's blade flying, it just barely stayed in the dish. "Damn!"

"Right... Go!" Matt sent another attack, that took all of Dy's energy to keep her blade in the dish, and she clutched her stomach in pain. Throughout all this, Dy's team mates were just staring open-mouthed and speechless.

"Dy, get back here! You're going to get hurt!" Scott protested.

Alex, however, knew better. "Well, I could yell at you to stop, but I know you would never listen to that, so here's my advice, keep going! Fight him, you can win!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys!" Dy replied, with a forced smile on her face and gritting her teeth in pain. "This is it! Final attack!!!!" Dy cried. Deeta responded, sensing her mistress's distress, and attacked with full power. Upon impact, the stadium exploded with light and bits of stuff from the dish came flying everywhere. Alex's team covered their eyes to protect themselves from the debris. When they looked up again, the dust and light were fading.

"And there is only one blade left standing! Who's blade is it?!" screamed the announcer. Just then there was a gasp, Dy had fainted at the dish. "Get a medic!" the announcer was shouting once again.

Matt however, could care less about Dy's well-being. "Just declare me the winner already," he commented. That's when everyone looked at the dish.

"I don't believe it! Dy's blade is still spinning, while Matt's isn't! Therefore, he is the winner!" the announcer-dude was starting to annoy Alex, who had run up to Dy by this point. The medics loaded her up onto a stretcher and moved quickly outside, presumably to an ambulance. The team made to follow, but Stanley pointed out that they had a match to win.

"Don't worry, I'll go with him," Stanley said, with a faint glimmer of a smile.

"So, looks like it's me and you, Alex. And I shall win," came a daunting and familiar voice. Alex turned quickly, to see his former best friend walking toward him.

"We'll see about that," Alex murmured, as he blocked out all memories and got into focus.

-----

RTC: Okay, so now I have no excuse for not writing well on this, because my other fic is finally done, and hopefully I'll be updating more often. Bye everyone!


	11. Battle On, Alex!

RTC: Hello all! I'm sorry for not updating.

Kai: I'll bet you are. Do you realize how many times you've said that in this fic?

RTC: Uh, every other chapter?

Kai: Probably more.

RTC: (Sobs.) Wait, you're a muse, why am I listening to what you say? You're the depressing one! Now there's just this and the epilogue, so we're almost done!

Kai: Why do I sense impending doom?

Kari: Because she's got a new fic in mind, with torture designed just for you.

Kai: That could do it. Meh, Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade, got it? Good.

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Battle On, Alex!

"3, 2, 1, let it rip!" the announcer and both bladers were shouting.

"I'm not going to let the past come between me and beating my father! I don't care about who you were, it's who you are right now that's my concern. And what you are is a brainwashed minion of Boris!" Alex shouted as the battle got underway. "Now take this!"

"Ha, shows what you know, your subconscious is screaming at you to not attack me! You forget that I know you, can read you like an open book, Alexander Hiwatari! You can try, but there's no chance of you beating me, especially when I do this! Go, Dark Beast! Inner blast!" The creature that occupied Ryan's blade went on the offensive.

Immediately Alex felt the pain of the attack, even though nothing had hit him. His head pounded, his body shook, and the light was causing him searing pain. "Read my lips, I. Will. Not. Give. In!" He knew the only way to save his friends from their terrible fate was to take them out himself, which would hopefully undo the brainwashing.

"That's the way to do it," a voice whispered in his ear.

"Who's there?" Alex wondered out loud.

"See, you're cracking up already," Ryan taunted. He used this moment to try and attack Alex's blade, but a mysterious aura was blocking his attacks.

"Keep fighting," the voice urged, and suddenly the pain started to diminish.

"Who are you?" Alex was still trying to grasp if this was a trick planned by Boris or his father.

"Um, guys, I hate to say this, but maybe Alex is losing it under all the pressure," Josh murmured, "He's talking when no one is there."

"Have some faith, Josh, Alex knows what he's doing. And we've come much too far for him to lose it and he knows that," Scott pointed out.

Meanwhile, Dy had been rushed to the nearest hospital. 'When will she wake up?' Stanly wondered. There was so much to ask her, why she was using a false identity, where she came from and whether her parents even had any idea where she was. The girl was sneaky, he had to give her that one; even he had not suspected that she was a girl until the doctors had told him. There was nothing to do but wait, and hope that Alex won his match.

"I am Dranzer," the voice in Alex's head informed him. (AN: Did anyone see this coming? I hope I've surprised you all!) "I am a bitbeast and I have chosen you to be my partner. Do you wish for me to fight alongside you?" The bitbeast's voice was soothing Alex, and slowly restoring his energy.

"Dranzer, huh? Thank you, I accept," Alex mumbled, as his shock turned to awe. He knew only the best bladers could handle a bitbeast and he was honored one had chosen him as a partner. No sooner than those words had been spoken, a bright flash of red light flew into Alex's beyblade. "Go Dranzer!"

"I control the fire element, Master. You might want to use that to your advantage."

"What is that light? I think it's radiating from Alex's blade! You don't think that they might have tampered with it, do you?!" Andrew wondered.

"Don't worry, it's alright," Alex said, having heard that last comment. "Now, Dranzer, Fire Shot!" Alex had combined a shot attack he had known previously and Dranzer's fire power to form a more powerful attack.

"Dodge it, Dark Beast! What is that anyway?!" Ryan shouted, seeming a bit unnerved. "When did he acquire a bitbeast?! And where did he get it from?"

"You see, unlike you, I worked for my bitbeast! He chose me to be his partner!" The blades were flying more and more wildly, it was only a matter of time before one of them got taken out. "Final Flash!"

"Impenetrable Darkness!"

'Well, it is said that the light always defeats the darkness. So flame should take it out too. Now we'll just have to see if that's true!' Alex thought and hoped for the best. The massive collision of the two beasts caused an enormous blast, and everything else in the dish, and the dish itself, was most likely destroyed.

"Who won?" Josh asked, getting nervous.

"Did the blades even stop spinning?" Andrew added.

"Look! Only one person is standing!" Scott shouted. "It'd just better be Alex," he added quietly.

"Alright, ladies and gentle men, it looks like the smoke is finally clearing! Let's see who our new champion is!" the announcer said, as a figure with a mop of spiky hair emerged, carrying something on his back.

"Alex!" his team greeted enthusiastically.

"How's Ryan?" Scott asked, noticing the lump on Alex's back.

"What's this? Ryan seems to have passed out! I think we need another medic in here!" the announcer shouted before Alex could say a word. "Now what about the blades?" he added, as soon as he saw the medics heading for Ryan.

"So, did you win?" the team asked excitedly to which Alex could only shrug. He had honestly not noticed such details when he saw his friend in trouble. Ryan's fainting spell seem to have been caused by a nasty blow the head, which was bleeding quite a bit by the time the medics rolled him out.

"You think he'll be alright?" Alex asked and received shrugs back from his team mates.

"And we have a winner! Congratulations Alexander Hiwatari, our new beyblade champion!"

"I won? I won!!" Alex smiled. "Now they just have to lock up my father and our mission is done!"

"Yeah!" Josh and Andrew shouted.

"Now who's up for a trip to the hospital?" Scott added. Of course the whole team was in agreement on that.

"Stanley! Where's Dy" the team practically shouted in his ear, successfully waking up the coach.

"She's in the room down the hall. First one on your left."

"She?!"

Alex smirked. "Betcha didn't see that one coming huh?" He was hoping his team mates would be as accepting of this fact as he was, but he wasn't sure.

"Well, then she has a lot of explaining to do! Come on, Alex, don't you want to yell at her for taking that match?" Alex smiled at his team mates antics. It looked like things would be alright after all.

"In other news tonight, a man accused of abusing several young children, Boris Balkov, and his boss, Voltaire Hiwatari, have been picked up by the police at a downtown hotel. The details on what these men have done have not been revealed by police, but it looks like they have something to do with a few foreign beybladers, who were injured in a tournament last week. Fortunately, it looks like there will be no lasting effects on the bladers," the news anchor blared.

"About time they caught up to those idiots," Ryan said, followed by a string of colourful language. His memory had come back, and the brainwashing undone by that blow to the head, and fortunately, they had gotten Athrun to come around as well. He and Ryan were out of the hospital, and back with Alex's team.

"Meh, the police were bound to stumble on to all of this eventually. I'm just glad no one got hurt," Dy added, having also been released from the hospital, after promising several people that she'd take care of herself.

"Don't worry guys! Think of this as a new beginning for all of us!" Alex exclaimed, "He has to stay locked up, there's no way they could let him lose!" And Alex was right...at least for several years...

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RTC: Haha! I left a cliffie for you! So, please review, and tell me what you think! Take a guess at what I'm going to do next time, if you want! Sorry about the bad action scenes, I really did try, but it didn't come out perfectly, did it?

Kai: At least she didn't get writer's block and write a really bad chapter. You know, the kind with fluff. (Cowers in fear of fluff.)

RTC: Crazy muse. (Shakes head.) See you guys soon!


	12. Light At The End Of The Tunnel Not!

RTC: Yes, you are not dreaming! I'm actually updating quite early this time! And guess what?! This is the last chapter! My fic is finshed! (Sobs.)

Kai: Great, she's bawling again. How do we stop her?

Kari: Well, the reviewers could give some nice reviews…

Kai: She's corrupting you! (Runs screaming.)

RTC: I'm just going to let you guys read and see what you think, okay? Though some reviews would be nice. (Hint, hint.) Disclaimer please! (Returns to crying.)

Kari: Ray-Tiger-Cat does not own Beyblade, she just controls the plot and owns us OCs.

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Light At The End Of The Tunnel-Not!

It had been 17 years since the tournament, and Alex and his team had moved on and continued with their lives. They were all still in contact, but they could no longer spend time together due to the fact that most of them had families. Alex had gotten married, to a lady named Kayla and he and his wife had twins, Kai and Kari, who turned three a few days before. Ryan and Scott had both gotten married too, both were without children for the time being, while Dy had married and had two children also-a little boy, almost three years old named Raymond (Ray) and a daughter, Elizabeth (Lizzie), who was only a few months old. However happy they all seemed, their latest correspondence would reveal otherwise. They all knew Voltaire would not stay locked up forever and they knew he was being released in a short while. Then the unthinkable happened.

"Alex, that was just the Japanese police on the phone," Alex's wife said between sobs, "My mother's gone missing! They think it might be him at work again!" Kayla was half Japanese, half Russian, her mother being the Japanese and she was living in Japan all alone after the death of her husband several years before.

"NO!" Alex had gone surprisingly pale. Kayla knew all about his father, but he never thought that her mother would be targeted. "Let's go. We'll head straight to Japan and see if we can put a stop in his plan." Alex gave his wife a hug and comforted her to the best of his ability.

"Thanks Alex... You're right; we should head over there and see if we can catch him. But the only problem is that there's a blizzard on the way. I don't know if we can get to the airport, much less catch a plane." Kayla had calmed down considerably, it was Alex's specialty to calm her down.

"Well, we won't know until we try. I'll go call the airport and book us all a flight," Alex replied.

A few hours later, Alex, Kayla, the twins and their entire luggage were all stuffed into the family car.

"Mommy, Daddy, where are we going?" asked a sleepy Kai.

"To help your grandma out, okay sweetie?"

"Goody, I like going to Grandma's," Kari piped up, while Kai nodded in agreement.

Soon after, the twins had fallen asleep.

"So, what do you think he's done with my mom?" Kayla asked, sounding worried.

"Don't worry; he wouldn't dare try anything if he knows we can get there. I'll see to it personally that he gets shoved right back in jail."

"But what if he stops us?"

"I've alerted our friends, so they will be around to take care of him. They've all witnessed his horrid deeds and they care as much about all this as I do," Alex responded, while trying to jerk the steering wheel in the right direction. Just then the car started to skid, and unfortunately for Alex and his family, they were on a bridge and heading straight towards a pole holding it up. "Damn! The brakes aren't working either!"

"Alex, we're going to crash!" Kayla screamed, successfully waking up the sleeping children in the back seat.

"Dad must have planned this. Hold on, everyone!" Alex had replied and then the car did crash. And those were the last words spoken by either of them, and blackness overtook all four occupants of the vehicle.

Kai woke up to the sound of sirens blaring and flashing lights. "Mommy, Daddy, Kari?! Where are you?!"

"Hold on, kiddo," a paramedic had told him, as he approached with a huge saw type thing to cut the car open so that they could get Kai out. The car had been smashed to bits and it was surprising that the kid was even conscious.

"Where is my family?" Kai had protested, trying to wriggle free on his own, and discovering that he was quite stuck.

"Alright, I think you can sedate this one. He needs to be calmed down before we tell him anything," another paramedic told the first one. The first one agreed and injected Kai with enough sedative to keep him out until they were at the hospital.

"Kai, is that your name? Alright sweetie, please remain calm while we take some X-rays, okay?" the nurse had asked as she put him inside the machine. "We just want to see how badly you're hurt."

"But I don't wanna!" Kai shouted.

Kari, hearing her brother's screams from down the hall, put up a similar fuss. Before long, the doctors and nurses had had enough, and after a few tests, put the twins in one room, while they collected themselves to tell the children the bad news.

Finally, one doctor entered the room where she found Kari crying her eyes out in Kai's arms.

"Kai, Kari, there is no easy way to tell you this, but...your parents died in that crash," she whispered, wondering if they understood what that meant. Apparently so, because they both started mumbling something about who would take care of them.

"Don't worry, Kari, I'll always protect you," Kai whispered.

The raw emotion clogged Ryan and Dy's throats as they entered the cemetery, where their friend and captain would be buried.

"It is a pretty place, don't you think so?" Ryan whispered.

"Yeah, I suppose so, but I really wish this wasn't happening," she replied.

"I keep wishing this was all a dream," Athrun added, coming up behind them. Josh and Andrew were already at the gravesite, and Scott was trying to see if he could find Alex's children.

"I know the feeling," Dy told him.

"I found the kids, come on they're at the gravesite," Scott said, running up to the group. "They're a bit of a mess, but you can't blame them. Not knowing who's their guardian now."

"I can't believe that bastard is getting those kids! What kind of justice system is that? A convicted criminal getting custody of two innocent children?" Ryan ranted.

"We can't do anything about that but hope for the best," Dy said. "It looks like they'll be just as strong as their father, though, so we may not have to worry too much," she added, watching Kai attempt to push his grandfather away. "Besides, we all know Alex would never leave his children alone, he'll always be watching over them." Alex's friends all sighed and muttered about the terrible justice system letting the kids go with their grandfather. They had tried to get custody of the twins themselves, but Voltaire had always been a powerful man, and their fight was fruitless.

"Well, the future is in their hands. All we can do is watch over them and if he dares to try anything, we'll kick his butt, right guys?" Athrun said, getting a bit more hopeful.

"Right!"

"Because we can take him down as a team!" Dy added. The team looked up, and they knew they'd be okay, because they had Alex watching over them.

-----

RTC: (From behind fistful of tissues.) That's the end. Kind of sad, I know, and emotionally detached sometimes, but happily ever after doesn't always happen. Didn't anyone see this coming though?

Kai: Just because you think your hints are so obvious, it doesn't mean they are!

Kari: He's just sulking because he knows what you've got planned for your next fic.

RTC: Awe, poor Kai! (Glomps Kai.) A special thank you to all of my reviewers! (Glomps reviewers too.) Come on now, you know you guys want to press the little blue review button there. You know you do.

Kari: And RTC is handing out virtual chocolate to her reviewers. (Tempts readers with large plate of chocolate.)

Kai: Well, that's it for this fic! Hopefully I can leave now!

RTC: He's right about this being over, but I'll be back with more fics, I know that! So Kai can't leave! Bye guys! (Sobbing and waving.)


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